In connection with the exhibition, The Crown Princess will present the St. Loye prize of 100,000 Danish crowns to a goldsmith, silversmith or precious metal designer who has shown special abilities and talent within his or her craft. The Copenhagen Goldsmiths Guild awarded the talent prize every year between 1989 and 2007, and it was established to promote new initiatives in an old craft.

St. Loye events will stretch from 24 August – 30 September 2012. In addition to the prize award ceremony and the big talent exhibition at Designmuseum Danmark, there will be 18 other exhibitions around the city’s galleries, workshops and stores, and a seminar with lecturers and writers from here and abroad.

With the events, the Copenhagen Goldsmiths Guild hopes to make visible that good craftsmanship still exists and that it goes hand in hand with innovative design and artistic expression.

Loye, also known as Eligius, is the patron saint of goldsmiths, blacksmiths and all metalworkers. He lived during the early Middle Ages in what is now France. Loye was himself a talented goldsmith who later entered the priesthood and became bishop of Noyon-Tournai.